Carolina 1-A semifinals: Rosewood turns back AG

By Andrew Stevens
Published in Sports on October 18, 2012 1:49 PM

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PRINCETON -- The look of concern on Jennifer Cochran's face said it all.

It was not the third meeting with rival Princeton in tonight's Carolina 1-A Conference tournament finals that troubled Cochran. It was the inconsistent performance her Rosewood team turned in during a 25-8, 25-20, 22-25, 25-20 over Ayden-Grifton in Tuesday's semifinals that gave Cochran plenty of distress.

The Eagles resembled a cohesive unit in stretches Tuesday evening and failed to demonstrate a killer instinct in other moments.

Rosewood reeled off 17 consecutive points during the opening set. Heather Lancaster pounded out three kills and Crystal Allen supplied three blocks as the Eagles claimed set one.

Ayden-Grifton built a 19-17 lead late in set two as Kelsey Jones led the Chargers' attack with a kill, a block and an off-speed hit. Following a timeout, Rosewood (15-7 overall) responded as Ellen Morgan hammered out a pair of kills.

Heather Lancaster's kill and critical Ayden-Grifton miscues closed out the second set.

"In the first two sets we played well," Cochran said. "In the third set it was just like that deja vu thing from the last time we played Ayden-Grifton. If you give a team momentum anything can happen."

The Eagles appeared to be in control in the third set after Allen's off-speed hit extended their lead to 17-12. Serving problems and unforced errors allowed the Chargers to grab momentum.

Destiny Dixon provided a pair of aces. Jones contributed a kill and a block as Ayden-Grifton took a 22-19 lead. Rosewood climbed to within 24-22, but a kill attempt sailed long forcing a fourth set.

"When we needed to get our serve in the box we couldn't," Cochran said. "It's the same thing we've struggled with all year. You've got to bury somebody when you've got them down. Hopefully we'll come out and look like a different team tomorrow night because we can't play like that tomorrow night and be successful."

The Eagles jumped out to a 10-4 lead in set four as Lancaster and Anna Ingram each supplied a kill. Lexi Mercer added a block during that stretch and Scout Anderson had an ace. Rosewood continued to click offensively as Morgan delivered a pair of kills and an off-speed hit to help put away the Chargers.

Morgan and Lancaster each finished with eight kills.